Thunder and Lightning
by TallyFox
Summary: My first ever digifanfic. And it got an A* GCSE!
1. Default Chapter Title

Thunder and Lightning.

A Digimon fanfic by Tally~Fox, aka Ally Webb. .

Please note: This is my first Digimon fanfic, so it may not be very good. If you like it, make sure you tell me, and if you don't then... well, tell me anyway. 

This story is set in the future, when Tai and Matt are fifteen. They and the other original digidestined (Kari included) are now back on Digiworld. There's no sign of Cody etc. in this fanfic, as I live in Britain and have never even seen series two yet.

***

It was late evening in the noisy seaside town. The tourists were just beginning to travel back to their hotels, carrying whinging children who just had to spend an extra hour building sandcastles on the beach. The air was getting colder, and the choppy waves lapped against the sand, tearing down the weak buildings handcrafted by young ones.

But it was warm where Shinri was. Inside her favourite hang-out, the games arcade, she leant against the wall soaking up the atmosphere as she listened to her CD player. This was as close as it got to bliss.

"Shin!" She bristled with annoyance, as the name was called. Only a few people called her that, most knowing her as Shinri. And the voice that called her was her half-brother's. "Shinri, come look at this!"

"What is it, brat?" 

"It's a fortune teller's tent! Lookit!"

The ten year old gestured towards the strange marquee, made of rainbow coloured silks. Beside it was a sign painted on a loose piece of canvas.

'Gennai Fortunes.' It read. Shinri sighed.

"Ryan, you don't honestly believe in all this do you?" She rubbed her fingers against the sign absent-mindedly. "And why would a psychic put his stall up in a video games arcade?"

Ryan shrugged and pulled back the cloth covering the entrance. "Well, sis, there's only one way to find out." 

Slowly and carefully, the two entered the silent tent. It was almost completely dark in the room, save for a strange beam of light coming from the ceiling. The shadows played across the surroundings in many colours, more shades of darkness than they had ever known to exist.

"Hello?" Shinri called out. The light flickered, catching her eye. In amazement, she watched.

In the midst of the beam, a figure began to form. At first it bore no distinct shape, but as it gradually became clearer, it seemed to take on the shape of a small, wizened old man. Ryan approached it, putting a hand through the middle of the figure. The man fizzled around the limb, then came back into focus as the child withdrew his hand. The man looked at Ryan for a moment, then finally spoke.

"Greetings. I am Gennai." He told Shinri. She began to introduce herself, when he stopped her. "And I already know who you are, Shinri. I have a very important message for you."

"What about me?" Ryan pouted. He was very spoilt by his parents, and was impatiently self-centred as a result. "Do I get a message?"

Gennai inspected him for a moment, then stumbled backwards in shock, a strange fear showing on his face.

"Y.. you're Ryan!" He choked. "Get out of here at once!"

Ryan folded his arms in an expression of defiance. "Don't want to." His older sister turned and glared at him.

"Just get out of here, idiot! Get lost!"

Ryan frowned back, and kicked her in the shin, as he strode out defiantly. Shinri rubbed her injured leg and looked back at Gennai. "So what's my message?"

The old man waved an arm in the air, and two objects began to fall, as if from nowhere. Shinri reached for them, eyeing them curiously. One was a strange electronic device, and the other a necklace. On the necklace was a design of the moon and two stars, simplistically carved into the pendant.

"You are the final of the Digi-destined," Gennai told her. "Your tag and crest were for some reason permanently conjoined, unlike the others. This caused us problems in finding you, as the locations of the tags for the others were parallel to their homes in this world."

Shinri gazed at him in confusion. "What are you saying?"

He stepped aside slightly, gesturing to the side where he had stood before. "Step through."

Shaking her head in bewilderment, Shinri pulled the necklace over her head, so the tag hung at her throat, and clipped the device to the strap of her backpack. Gingerly, she began to step inside, unsure of what she was doing.

"Shin!" She spun on her heels, to see Ryan running back in. "Shinri, I wanna come too!"

Gennai edged back in fear, putting his hands in front of his face. "No! He must not be..."

But before he could finish his sentence, the two had disappeared. Gennai shook his head.

"The Anti-Destined has stepped through," He murmured. "The Digiworld is in great peril."

*

The sun beat down onto the rocky ground, as if trying to pound a hole to the centre of the world. Ryan felt the rays as they forced themselves against his head, boiling his skull. Groaning, he rolled onto his stomach, then used what little energy he had to push himself up to his knees.

"Where am I?" He gasped, as he surveyed the dusty brown surroundings. All around him, sandy mountains towered, and the ground was cracked. Chapped through lack of moisture.

"This is the Digiworld, Rai, my brother." The voice came from behind him, and he knew it was not his sisters. He spun around to find himself facing a strange, bird-like creature.

"It's... it's a Pteradactyl!" He exclaimed, anxiously reaching forward to touch it's leathery wing. "But, they're extinct... and they can't talk!"

The supposed dinosaur laughed. "I'm not a Pteradactyl, whatever that is! I'm a Digimon, my name is Dactylmon."

The boy sat in the sand so his face was level with the creature's. Dactylmon offered a scaly claw forward, clasping in his hand another one of the strange necklaces, and the digital device that had also accompanied his sister's pendant.

"This is your tag, crest, and digivice," He told Ryan, placing the objects in the child's hand. "I and the others searched high and low, in preparation for your coming to assist us. With the exception of that traitor, Bebemon." He snarled, then turned back to poor Ryan, who was looking very perplexed.

"Of course, you don't know do you?" Dactylmon exclaimed. Rai shook his head morosely. "I am the leader of what is known as 'The New Wave Digimon'. We are all of new races of Digimon, and are far more powerful and intelligent than any before us." He waved a claw in the air arrogantly.

"We believe that it is our destiny to destroy all of the so-called good Digimon, along with their Digi-destined. I was most honoured when I discovered that I would be the partner to our 'Anti-Destined," unexpectedly, he paused, and bowed down. Ryan looked down in a mixture of shock and pleasure.

"You mean I have to lead you? And help you take over?"

"Yes, master."

Rai looked around with a wicked glint in his eyes, surveying his surroundings. Finally, he turned back to Dactylmon, grinning like a man possessed by his lust for power.

"I'll do it."

*

Escaping was the only thought in her mind as she travelled deeper into the jungle. All around her, in her head and in her thoughts, Bebemon could hear the taunts of the other Digimon.

"So you've been told you've gotta help a little Digi-destined have you?"

"Traitor!"

She could still see their evil eyes boring into her soul as they drove her out of their lair, aiming their attacks to kill her. She still did not know how she had escaped. It was almost as if her destiny was causing her to be somehow... protected.

So she was obviously pretty much absorbed in her thoughts when she heard the scream, yet it still cut to the core of her soul. Bebemon almost felt as if she was the one screaming, as if the same fear was creeping over her. Following her ears, she found herself travelling to a cave, deep in the centre of the forest.

"Help! I'm trapped!" The voice was feminine, and panicky. The little Digimon followed the path in the cave, noticing that it became narrower and narrower. The ceiling was forever getting closer, but eventually Bebemon found the end, where a human girl sat, hugging her knees and biting her lip as she rocked back and forth. She looked at Bebemon through clouded moist eyes.

"Help me... please!"

The lavender Digimon was puzzled. "You aren't trapped? But why are you crying?"

"Please... move away," 

Bebemon disobeyed, hopping closer. "Let me help you..."

"I SAID MOVE AWAY!" The girl was shouting now, and the hot tears streamed across her cheeks. Then she shook her head. "I'm really sorry, I snapped. Please, move back."

Bebemon edged back by about a metre, still watching the distraught teenager. The girl was now breathing heavily, as if trying to control her fear.

"Would you like me to..."

The girl waved a hand at Bebemon. "No, I've been working at this. I have to cope by myself." Still hyperventilating, she positioned herself onto her hands and knees, and gradually began to crawl through the tunnel towards the entrance.

It took quite a lot longer than would be expected, but eventually the pair found themselves at the entrance. The human girl sat down with a sigh.

"What was wrong, anyway?" Bebemon asked curiously. 

"Well, I'm claustrophobic. That's the fear of tight, enclosed places." She paused, looking at her companion. "I don't mean to be rude, but, who... what are you?"

Bebemon introduced herself. "My name is Bebemon. I am a Digimon, and I'm on a quest to find a girl from Earth, named Shinri. She is one of the Digi-destined."

The girl grinned, then hugged the Digimon. "I'm Shinri!" 

"Really?"

"Yes, really!" 

The two embraced again, but were interrupted by a voice full of contempt.

"What a touching scene. The Traitor and the Digi-Destined," It was Dactylmon, wings spread out like a legendary phoenix, claws prepared to strike; to kill. Seated on his back was a young boy, of about ten years old. His blond hair was covered by a black baseball cap, and his shoulders were hidden under a thick black cape.

"Dactylmon!"

"Ryan!" Shinri stood up, frowning. "What the hell do you want?"

Her half-brother looked down at her, and she gasped with shock. Shining in his eyes was a pure venom, as if he would kill if he had to. Reaching behind him, he revealed a sharp bladed axe, almost as big as him.

"It is our Destiny to take over the Digi-world," he glowered. "But first we must destroy all the Digi-destined!"

"There are others?" Was all Shinri could say, as Bebemon leapt in front of her. She reached out to stop her new friend, but stopped. Something told her that she should not try to prevent Bebemon from fighting.

"What's that?" Ryan yelled, pointing to her shoulder. She followed his gaze, and noticed the strange device glowing. Looking back at Bebemon, it seemed as if light was pouring into her. But what...?

"She's digivolving!" Dactylmon yelled, cursing and flapping his wings. Sure enough, there seemed to be some sort of metamorphosis taking place. There was a flash, and stood in Bebemon's place was a pink fox cub, with a blue tipped tail. She turned back to Shinri, her black eyes dancing with pleasure.

"Just leave this to me, Shinri!"

The vixen leapt forward, landing on Dactylmon's head and obscuring his view. He thrashed around blindly.

"Psychic shocker!" She roared. A flash of blue seemed to come from her forehead to Dactylmon's, as he writhed in agony.

"What's wrong with you? Can't you change too?" Rai shrieked at his partner. But even if Dactylmon was able to, he seemed weakened and surprised by the blow. He could not even bring a weak glow to Rai's digivice.

Shinri lifted a rock and threw it, hitting the ten year old boy on the head. He yelped, and swung with the axe, slicing a gash into Shinri's left arm as she rose it to defend herself. Feeling faint, she collapsed to the ground. Ryan was about to finish her with a final blow, when he noticed Dactylmon. The beast lifted his head and peered at Ryan.

"Cubomon severely weakened me. Leave her now, she'll die anyway from exposure or something." He shook a claw dismissively; this was not important to him. The boy nodded, and left, running back to the New Wave lair with his Digimon in his arms. Cubomon instantly jumped to Shinri's side.

"Are you okay?"

"He's right." The seriousness of the girl's voice scared Cubomon. "I will die if I'm left here. There's nothing you can do." The vixen Digimon looked flustered, as she shuffled on her paws.

"I'll run... I'll get help..."

"Will you come back?"

Cubomon looked at her friend's pained expression, and nuzzled against her cheek.

"I promise."

*

The other Digi-Destined had lived on the Digiworld for a long time now. They had first arrived when TK was eight, but he was now...

"Twelve!" TK looked up at his older brother, Matt. "I'm the same age as you were when you first got here! I'm not a baby!"

Matt sighed, not diverting his eyes from the food he was cooking over the makeshift fire. "I just don't think it would be safe for you to go somewhere so dangerous, that we haven't yet explored together! There could be anything lurking in that cavern!"

"He's right, you know; you do treat him like a baby." 

This comment was made by Tai, the self-appointed leader of the group. He and Matt did not tend to see eye to eye on most matters, and were constantly feuding. Sadly, neither of them seemed to put any effort into co-operating with the other. Matt flinched as he tried to contain his fury.

"I think TK is old enough to be responsible for himself..."

"Shut up, Tai!" Matt finally snapped, fists ready to aim a blow. Just in time though, TK stood between the two older boys.

"Stop it! I may have grown, but I still can't stand to see you fighting!" Matt and Tai exchanged guilty glances, then began the inevitable verbal battle of placing the blame. Kari, who was watching this scene, shook her head.

"Who are you two to say we're not mature or old enough?" She sighed. Matt groaned, putting his head in his hands.

"Okay, I give in! Go ahead... but don't say I didn't warn you!"

The two twelve year olds ran off, followed by their Digimon. Matt glared at Tai.

"Who are you to tell me how to take care of my little brother?" He snarled. Tai was taken aback for a moment, but this comment was still enough to anger him.

"I just think you should give him the chance to prove that he can take care of himself."

"Well, sorry for caring!" 

Tai looked as if he could throttle him, but instead shook his head and sat down on one of the logs that he had positioned near the fire as a bench. Matt turned back to his cooking, when he heard shouts from between the trees.

"Tai! Quick, this is important!" The voice was Sora's. She sprinted into the clearing, followed by Biomon and an unfamiliar Digimon. "We found an injured girl! Her arm's been cut real bad, and she's faint from blood loss!"

Matt dropped everything, and Tai got up, both prepared to run and help the girl.

"That's not all!" Biomon exclaimed. "She has a tag, crest and digivice too!"

Matt looked down at the Digimon who had accompanied them. "Is she your friend?" He asked. The vixen turned her nose up at him.

"Yes. And who are you?" Her tone was icy, and her expression was so venomous it could poison. She had a feeling, for some reason, that Matt was not going to get on with her at all.

"We have to go!" Tai yelled, not noticing the tension. Sora grabbed his hand, guiding him towards the girl, whilst Matt and the four Digimon followed.

It took about five minutes to find the others, who were with the girl. She was now sitting up, sipping some water that Mimi had given her, as Izzy wrapped her arm in a tight bandage. Joe sat beside him, looking more worried than the girl herself.

"Now c'mon, Joe!" Mimi grinned, placing an arm about his shoulders. "It isn't your blood, so why are you so panicky?"

Joe shuddered. "I just hate the sight of blood, okay?"

"Are you alright now?"

Shinri turned around to see Sora, and smiled.

"I'm fine now, Sora. But I am a little worried about Joe..."

Tai laughed. "He'll be fine! He's always this much of a wimp." He sat on the ground in front of her. "My name's Tai, by the way." He offered her his hand. She shook it.

"I'm Shinri."

Izzy looked up to the sky, noticing the sun setting over the trees. "We better head back," he told his friends. "It's late." 

Shinri nodded, and began trying to get up. But she found it very difficult to get up without the support of her injured arm. As she tried to push herself up, a hand appeared in front of her.

"I'll help you up." 

A little nervously, she took Matt's hand and he pulled her to her feet. He pulled her arm around his neck. 

"Lean on me until we get back." He ordered. She smiled weakly, and they began to talk like old friends.

Behind them, Cubomon snarled.

*

TK and Kari arrived back at the camp to find a stranger joking and laughing with their friends. She had short brown hair a little like Sora's, and very dark brown eyes. When she saw TK, she smiled and said:

"So you're the infamous TK! Matt's told me so much about you!"

"Really?"

"Yeah," She paused. "Y'know, you've got yourself one hell of a great guy for a brother." Matt felt himself blush slightly, and turned away so nobody could tell.

"Who are you?" Kari asked. 

"I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself? I'm Shinri."

"I'm Kari."

The conversation continued, as they all munched on fruits that Izzy and the others had found in the forest. Cubomon turned down any offers of food with an aloof expression.

"No thanks. I only eat meat." 

Gomamon sniggered. "Sorry, your highness!" 

There was a growl, and Cubomon struck. She bit Gomamons shoulder, scratching at his flippers. Shocked, Gabumon pulled her away.

"Unhand me!" 

"Not until you apologise!" Agumon responded. Cubomon was silent for a moment, then sighed.

"Fine. I'm sorry." Gabumon let her go, and she smirked as she flounced off. Patamon glared as he watched her approach Gatomon. 

"She didn't mean it!" The others agreed, nodding solemnly.

"There's nothing we can do, though." Palmon said. "You can't trust these New wavers, any way."

This was met with unanimous echoes of harmony. They'd all had recent run-ins with these evil Digimon, and from what they had heard, things were going to get worse. But as of yet there was no way they could discover the whereabouts of the New Wave lair.

*

Tai watched as the others laughed, telling jokes and stories whilst planning how they could get rid of the evil uprising. But at the moment the mood was one of happiness, and Mimi was telling an elaborate story about her pet cat back on their home world. All were sat in the circle, listening- or day-dreaming whilst pretending to listen- except Tai. He sat a little separate from the others, lost in his own thought.

Shinri leant with her head on Matt's shoulder, chatting to Sora about something he couldn't quite hear. They were both giggling now, and he watched the way Sora's face lit up with pleasure. She was very pretty...

He shook the thought from his mind. What was he thinking? Sora was an old friend of his! But still...

"Penny for your thoughts, Tai?" He wasn't sure exactly how Shinri had got there so suddenly, but there she was by his side.

"I don't think they're worth that much." He replied, sounding a little sad. Shinri put a hand on his.

"Now, c'mon! I can tell that there's something wrong!" She sounded so sweet then that Tai had no choice but to tell her. He inhaled sharply, and began.

"Well, you see... there's this girl..."

"Sora."

"So... how'd you know?"

She laughed a little mysteriously. "Tai, it's either her or Mimi. And I can tell that Mimi is definitely not your type."

Tai grinned fiendishly. "But how do you know it isn't you?" She just smiled and shook her head. 

"Tai, I know it isn't! You think that you might be falling in love with Sora, and you're worried because you're close friends with her." Her tone was entirely confident, as if she was plucking the words from Tai's thoughts. "But there's nothing to be scared of, Tai. And Matt did tell me you held the crest of courage."

"How do you know all this? About me, and Sora, and," He paused, hushing his voice almost to a whisper. "And love."

Shinri took both of his hands between hers, and leant closer to whisper to him. Tai could swear that Matt was giving him a very evil look.

"I have the crest of Intuition, Tai." She whispered. "I know things, you see. I'm sensitive to other people's emotions... unless they involve myself. You were practically buzzing with emotion when you looked at Sora!" She leant back. "But don't you worry, I won't tell a soul!"

She got up, and went back to talk to Izzy, who was hunched over his computer.

"Can you get onto our world's internet from that?" She asked.

"Well, yes. But don't try sending an e-mail asking for help. They can't do anything for us whilst we're here." He warned. She nodded, and typed an address in the bar.

"It doesn't mean anything to my OL friends if I'm on another world, does it?" She asked. Tai grinned. She seemed to get used to the idea of never going back to Earth rather quickly. It almost made him wonder if she actually wanted to ever return.

"Tai?" Matt's voice interrupted his thoughts, and he looked up to see a pair of angry blue eyes looking down at him. He gulped.

"Yeah, Matt?"

"May I speak to you... in private?" He stressed the final two words, and Tai bit his lip. Following Matt through the tree branches to the nearby lake, he tried to explain.

"Look, Matt. If this has anything to do with...?"

"You knew!" His friend snapped, his fists quaking at his sides. "You guessed that I liked her and did that just to get to me!"

Tai edged away slowly, realising exactly why it was that Matt was so stressed. He'd always felt as if Tai was trying to take TK away from him, but he'd tried to remain calm. Now, when Tai was seemingly trying to take away the first girl he'd ever really liked... Although Matt had misinterpreted all the signs, Tai could see why he was so angry. But this was not going to change anything.

Without a word, Matt swung a strong punch aimed at Tai's jaw. But Tai was lucky enough to block it.

"Lay off, man!" He yelled. But Matt continued his attack, and Tai tried to resist all urges to punch back. Eventually, he snapped, and swung at Matt's face, giving him a black eye.

This came as a shock to the both of them. They stood, facing each other in silence for a moment. Tai's mouth an 'O' of surprise, and Matt's heart boiling with rage. Finally, the blond boy grabbed at Tai's throat, losing his balance and knocking them both to the ground. For a few moments they grappled on the ground. Tai bit his lip hard, not noticing as a trickle of blood ran down his chin and across his cheek. He almost felt as if he would cry. Matt's arm was scratched deep enough to break the skin, but however much Tai hurt him, he barely seemed to feel any pain nor exhaustion. Neither was conceding, despite the fact that one was almost bound to get hurt eventually.

"Tai! Matt! What are you doing?!" Izzy's shout broke through, as he pulled Matt from the ground. The older boy struggled, as Joe grabbed Matt. TK, the girls, and all the Digimon followed. Sora stood in front of Tai as he fought Joe to free himself.

"Tai, it's not worth it." She told him, placing her hands on his shoulders. "Please, stop it."

Tai looked at her, noticing the genuine worry, the pleading, in her eyes, and nodded.

"I... I'm sorry Sora." He finally sighed. She smiled, and Joe let him go. Matt, however, was a lot more stubborn.

"You are not gonna make me apologise!" He yelled at Izzy, elbowing him in the stomach. Izzy was knocked onto the ground, and Shinri ran over to help him. Tai took on fighting stance, glaring at Matt.

"What'd you do that for?" He asked, grabbing Matt by his collar. Joe covered his eyes.

"Will you both please quit it?" Sora's tone was urgent. She grabbed Tai's arm, but he pulled it away, never diverting his gaze from Matt.

"I'm sick of you! I'm beginning to wish you'd just leave!"

"Tai. Leave him..." 

Shinri looked at him with scared eyes, and sighed. "I can tell that you and Matt don't get on, but he's been really nice to me. Just... whatever it is, it isn't worth fighting for, okay?"

Sora put a hand on the other girl's shoulder and smiled. "Couldn't have said it better myself!"

Matt pushed Tai away, then strode off in sullen silence, Gabumon at his heels. Shinri watched as he left, and Tai shook his head.

"I just don't see why he got so stressed!"

Sora looked thoughtful, then turned to him. "What was all that about anyway, Tai?"

Silence.

"Tai?"

He shook his head once again, looking away. "I'm sorry, Sora. I'll make things even worse if I tell you."

*

"Where are we going, Matt?" Gabumon's question was not replied, as his companion ran his fingers through his flat gelled hair. It reverted to the spiky, scruffy style he had worn when he was eleven.

"Well, Tai wants me to leave. And he'll tell everybody what we were fighting about..."

Gabumon grinned. It was the smile of the wise, those who knew exactly how people think and were proud of this fact that made them so high in comparison to others. 

"You thought he liked Shi...?"

"It's none of your business!"

Matt's outburst obviously shocked the both of them, and he sat down beside his friend.

"I'm sorry, Gabumon."

"Matt?"

The brown-eyed girl emerged from the shadows, Cubomon looking very annoyed behind her. "Are you alright?"

"She dragged me off here to find you. I honestly don't know why she'd show such interest in a violent Neanderthal like..." Cubomon did not finish her sentence, instead sighing as if it was not worth her effort to even speak to him. Shinri frowned at her, and then looked to Matt apologetically.

"Sorry. She's like this to everybody except myself and Kari's Digimon."

"Gatomon?"

"That's the one."

Matt gestured for her to sit beside him. They were right above the edge of the lake, and the trees around them framed the full moon beautifully. Cubomon climbed onto a high branch, glaring down at them.

"This is where I usually come when I'm sick of Tai," Matt said. "None of the others have ever managed to follow me here."

He began to play a tune, his eyes shut in concentration as Gabumon looked on in awe. Shinri threw a pebble into the water, the music fading as the ripples spread.

"You're good." She commented when he had finished. He nodded, and continued playing. For a moment she stayed beside him, but then got up to leave. She turned away, then stopped.

"You know Matt, your hair's really cute when it's all scruffy like that. You shouldn't bother with hair gel."

Matt's cheeks became a rosy shade. "Thanks," He grinned. They both stood still for a few moments, neither exactly sure of what should be said next. Finally, Shinri broke the silence.

"I better leave you in peace." The vixen jumped into her arms. Matt looked up at her, inhaling sharply.

"Shinri..." He hesitated, then sighed. "Er... never mind."

She laughed, and walked off. The final notes drifted through the air, and floated out to the lake.

*

A few days passed before they ran into any evil Digimon. It seemed to Izzy that the corrupt creatures had been somewhat... well, quiet recently. The last fight had been about a week before Shinri had turned up, and even that had been against a relatively pathetic monster. Tai had said that he thought this meant their work on the Digiworld was done-- but if so, why had they not yet returned home?

"I think that for us to return home now could cause a major dimensional rift, resulting in the ends of both this world and Earth." He commented to Sora. 

"But we've travelled from one world to the other before?" Izzy shrugged his shoulders.

"Yes, but I think that this can only work on rare occasions. The circumstances must be just right, at million to one chances. And besides," He frowned. "If our duties were to bring peace to the digital world, perhaps Earth had no role in our lives but for our up-bringing? Perhaps we're supposed to stay here for the rest of our lives?"

The others were silent in solemn contemplation. Izzy had voiced the one thing that they had privately grown to accept, but hearing it spoken aloud... it was as if it had just been an idle fear before, and had now become a full reality.

"Well, we can't go getting all depressed about it! What's our plan for today?" Tai finally broke the silence, forcing himself to smile. Sora consulted a notepad that she had been writing notes in, and answered.

"Today, Tai, Izzy, Matt, Shinri and I are on the food search party. The rest of you can take care of things here."

Mimi grinned, leaning back against a tree and inspecting her nails. "Guess that means a peaceful day with no work for me then!"

"Oh, no!" Joe retorted. "There is no way that I'm gonna make meals and stuff, I'm too... er, accident prone."

Mimi and Joe were still arguing, when the others left. Sora sighed, wiping her brow against her arm.

"If Kari and TK can survive the day without going insane, I'll seriously envy their powers of perseverance!"

They all stayed close together as they wondered deeper into the dark forest. Despite the temptation to ask Agumon to destroy the trees that were in the way with his pepper breath, Tai knew that they couldn't do it. If they were to clear an obvious path to their crude campsite, any evil Digimon could easily find and murder them in their beds. 

After about an hour without discovering anything, they stopped for a break. Izzy consulted a map on his computer, and announced his ideas to the small group.

"Okay. If we go north, we'll be going straight into a mountain range. But if we do carry on towards the mountains, then turn east, there should be a clearing with some berry bushes."

Matt got up and ran his fingers through his hair. "We better carry on then." He and Gabumon walked ahead, soon to be joined by Tai and Izzy with their Digimon. The girls stayed a couple of metres behind.

"You know, Shinri," Cubomon murmured once she was sure the boys were out of earshot. She glanced around shiftily. "Confidentially, I cannot stand that Matt person."

Biomon looked at the fox in surprise. "Why? Matt's alright!"

Cubomon wearily shook her head. "He's just so... oh, I don't know! You would just be a lot better off if you ignored his sort." She pointedly commented to her human partner, who exchanged glances with Sora and Biomon. The girls merely shrugged, and began talking about something else. Yet it was obvious to see the suspicious looks that Biomon was throwing at Cubomon.

*

"I can't believe we let them get away! And all because she did that digivolving thing... Why can't you do that?" Dactylmon cowered slightly, as the human who he had learnt to call his master shouted and screamed at him. He covered his fragile skull with his leathery wing, afraid of the axe blade that the boy was swinging wildly.

"You said you were powerful! You couldn't even destroy that pink powderpuff fox!" He spat out the words, then flopped back onto the floor. He felt exhausted with rage. Dactylmon did not move, still fearful.

"Master?" The small Digimon hovered in the entrance to the cave. "Master, the Digi-destined children... some of them are right outside." The creature shuffled from one slimy paw to the other, waiting for some response.

He finally received it. A sinister grin, reminiscent to that of a hunting crocodile, crept across Rai's freckled face. He reached a hand out, lifting his Digimon partner's head. 

"It's time for revenge, Dactylmon. We're gonna destroy them!"

*

As they entered the clearing, Shinri shivered. It was full of a dark smog, and although the plants Izzy had described were there, they were dead and shrivelled. The trees were nothing more than black wood carcasses, and there did not seem to be a living creature beside themselves.

"Sora, I'm scared." Biomon nervously sobbed. Sora nodded, wrapping her arms around the little pink bird. Shinri walked to the centre of the clearing, then stopped in her tracks, frozen to the ground. She could feel a strange sensation creeping up her spine, through her nerves, to her brain. It stung, and she fell to the ground in agony.

"Shinri?!" Matt yelled, running through the smokey atmosphere with Gabumon and Cubomon hot on his heels. "Are you alright?!"

He dropped to his knees beside her, and she looked up at him through clouded eyes. Cautiously, he put an arm around her shoulder. 

"Matt, this place is dangerous. I... I can sense it." As she spoke, the feeling still bit through her mind like electricity. He lifted her and carried her back to the group, her body limp in his arms. It was only with the contrast of her faint blueberry-musk scent that he realised how badly the area reeked. It's odour was like poison, and he noticed Tai gagging due to the same stench.

"We can't stay here," She whispered as he sat down beside Izzy, still cradling her. "We have to leave and never come back! This is.. an evil place."

"You can sure say that again!" Tai groaned. Sora motioned for him to be silent, and took the other girl's hand.

"What happened back there?" Shinri looked up at her with misty eyes still full of fear.

"I... I can often sense things. Strong emotions. When I was back home, it came in useful as I could always tell when one of my classmates had a crush on someone!"

She smiled faintly, pausing as she remembered her old friends. But the grim reality soon came back to her, and she sighed.

"This place... it's full of hatred. Pain. It's killed off all the plants," Sora looked down at her hands. Shinri was clutching them so hard in her fear that the colour had drained from them. "This place is evil!" 

Biyomon edged closer to Agumon and Tentomon, who were now quaking with fear themselves. Sora helped Shinri get up, and Tai turned to Izzy.

"I think we should leave. There's something seriously freaky about this place."

"Oh, but you cannot leave!"

Tai jumped backwards. He had been in midstep, trying to leave the clearing, when a sharp jolt almost melted his sneakers. On closer inspection, he noted an electric wall around the outside of the dark glade. They were trapped.

"I am Rai," The voice announced, as Tai spun around to find himself facing a young boy, who appeared to be only ten years old. "And this is my good friend, Inazumamon."

Shinri gasped, her eyes full of tears. "Ryan, what are you...?"

"You know this guy?!" Izzy yelled, as a peal of thunder shook the threatening black sky. Shinri nodded, her forehead resting in her right hand. She glanced at Izzy and sighed.

"He's my half-brother."

Matt and Izzy both looked at the child in amazement. Surely this axe-wielding maniac could not be the sibling of their new friend? The creature behind him threw it's head into the air and screamed. Tai fumbled for his digivice, and held it high above his head.

"Agumon! Digivolve!" There was a bright flash of light from the heavens, the only bright spot in the otherwise dark area. 

Shinri watched in awe as her small friend grew into a ferocious, dinosaur like creature. Izzy, Sora and Matt also thrust the small electronic devices into the air, and their Digimon also grew. Sora grinned triumphantly.

"We have him outnumbered! That's a great advantage!" She called across to Tai. But no sooner had she said it than she noticed just how wrong she was.

Greymon, Birdramon, Garurumon and Kabuterimon all surrounded the evil creature, fiery wings beating and sharp, savage claws lashing out. Greymon's Nova Blast severely burnt Inazumamon's wings, and all of the others managed to put in some near-critical hits. But although none of them had received any physical damage, they all seemed to be yielding, wavering where they stood.

"It's like something's draining them!" Izzy yelled. Shinri nodded.

"This atmosphere would be enough to drain anyone!"

One by one, the large monsters slowly began to collapse, devolving to their previous forms. Cubomon sat back, laughing maniacally.

"You're supposed to be helping!" Shinri cried. Cubomon shook her head, still sniggering. Agumon weakly lifted his head and glared at her.

"If I had the energy... I'd fry you!" He muttered. Matt looked down at the weakened Digimon, and then to Cubomon. Something inside him snapped.

"I'm gonna kill you!" He screamed, running as fast as his feet could carry him. He was not sure what came over him, but the next thing he knew, he was being lifted into the air by a pair of tough steel-like claws, thrashing about wildly. The creature was squeezing him so tight he felt as if he would burst. Sora gasped, grabbing Tai's hands which surprised her as much as him.

"We have to do something!" Tai told her. But try as he might he could think of no solution. Matt could feel his insides being pressed together, and only one thought ran through his mind: This is it. I'm about to die.

"Matt!" Shinri suddenly shrieked, her voice loud and high as a banshee's. He looked down at her through his half-closed eyes, at the tears streaming down her cheeks, at the rain soaking her body and hair. She pulled something from her pocket-- something that flashed of silver, and ran towards the creature.

The next few moments passed like a movie in slow motion. Sora was rushing around, lifting the wounded Digimon and bringing them all to a corner of the clearing, where she stood over them protectively. Tai, leaping to attack Ryan, his expression full of venom. Izzy aiding Sora, Cubomon still cackling, and all that could be heard was the thunder and the screaming. Screaming, screaming, screaming.

The noise shattered Matt's ears, echoing through his heart and soul. At first he was not sure who's voice it was, but he slowly began to realise. It was his own.

"Matt!" Shinri's voice called to him once again. She was now attempting to climb Inazumamon's reptilian neck, but the rain had soaked it and she kept slipping down. Deftly, she took the object she had been holding earlier, and dug it between the creatures scales. It was a knife.

The Digimon threw his head into the air, cursing and writhing. But Shinri would never let go. She carried on digging the blade into the thick skin, using it to help her climb, until she reached Matt. She took his hands, sobbing and burying her face in his green vest top, as he embraced her soothingly. Neither noticed as the claws closed around her, crushing them both closer together. But Cubomon saw.

"Shinri!" Her voice, usually filled with her spiteful pride, was now anxious and almost caring. "Don't worry, I'm coming!"

A flash of light emerged from the weeping girl's Digivice, meeting a beam from the sky. The two flares met at Cubomon's body and she began to grow. Her fur darkened, and became purple as she grew, and her tail spliced into three. She had digivolved into Kitsumon.

"Sora, look!" Izzy gasped. For some reason, the enormous kitsune was not at all affected by the evil aura. Even Shinri looked on in amazement, until she grinned in realisation.

"Of course! Before, Dactylmon called her a traitor, which must mean she was once on of the evil New Wave Digimon! She's immune to the evil!" Her face portrayed her happiness, and Matt would have found it hard to suppress his urge to draw her closer to him, had it not been for the fact that they were in danger of being suffocated by each others bodies as it was.

Kitsumon brought her head close to Inazumamon's; her fanged smirk struck fear into the evil Digimon's mind. Her nose was now pressed against his beak, and he began to realise just how weak the other Digimon's powers had already rendered him.

"Psychic Flame." She whispered. Inazumamon began to howl and screech as he felt the fire frazzle his mind. He dropped the two digi-destined to the floor, and fell backwards. Ryan screamed and wrenched himself from Tai's angry grasp, running to his fallen comrade.

"We'll meet again!" He shouted, thrusting his Digivice into the air as a cloud of black and red enveloped him. "I can tell you, I'm gonna destroy you!" With that, he vanished.

Kitsumon shrank back down to Cubomon, and ran across to Shinri and Matt. Gabumon was already beside their limp bodies, where they lay exhausted in the mud. Shinri still had her face snuggled close to Matt's chest, warm and protected. Cubomon placed a wary paw over her friends soaked and mud coated body.

"Shinri?" She murmured. The girl squirmed where she lay, as did Matt, and Cubomon let out a sigh of relief. "They're both alive. And she almost killed herself for him!" Her voice was full of wonder as she said this. Izzy nodded.

"Of course she did! That's what friends do!" 

"But..."

"I know you don't like Matt all that much, but I think you're going to have to accept their friendship." Biomon told her, smiling as Tai and Sora tried to awaken their two companions. Cubomon thought about this for a while, then grinned.

"Well, the way I see it," She deliberated. "The way I see it, he must be okay, otherwise she wouldn't like him so much. I guess I should learn to trust her judgement."

"She was right about the evil aura in that clearing, after all." Tentomon pointed out, agreeing. Cubomon just nodded, nuzzling against Shinri. She was not sure why exactly, but she felt very protective over the fifteen year-old girl. She knew Shinri could take care of herself, but... it was her duty, to see no harm came to her closest friend. And she had to admit, she was jealous that the girl had found such a good friend in Matt. Lying in the mud, Shinri seemed so vulnerable, so young and endangered. Cubomon knew she must safeguard her. It was her destiny, so to speak. Finally, she sighed and replied:

"I'm just going to have to try and get along with him. For her sake."

*


	2. Default Chapter Title

Fire and Snow. A Digifanfic by Tally~Fox, AKA Ally Webb. 

All the best stories start with dedications! Or perhaps not. Anyways, this one goes out for Sailor Musashi; Because she's very cool, writes great fanfics (way better than mine!) And plus, it's nearly her birthday, so this is a kind of present. Thing is she has to share it.

Pewilly, this is for you. You asked me to write it, you created Epsmon, you check to make sure I haven't screwed my digifanfics up. (He knows more about Digimon than the creators probably do! He's smart.) Basically, he da man! Or hedgehog, if you prefer. ^_^ 

In the dark copse, scene of many battles, there is a concealed entrance. If one can resist the strong feeling of evil's powers, and somehow get through, it is possible to find-- yet very hard.

The Digiworld is home of very strange creatures, with very strange powers. Although a once peaceful planet, the past few years have heralded more and more sinister beings. Hatred is consuming all, and there are few Digimon who can fight such a force. Without assistance, there are none.

Ryan Miyamoto was only young when he was first consumed by Digiworld, and possessed by his power-lust. Although still a child, he had always been blessed with a quick, intelligent mind. But his childhood innocence has passed prematurely. Cold and calculating, he is capable of any evil. Once trying to kill his own sister, there is nothing he will stop at. 

Even summoning the demons.

*

As the one source of heat in the area, the feeble little campfire was surrounded. Shinri shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself. On her lap sat Cubomon, and all around were her friends with their Digimon. They were all silent, as if talking would make them lose the enegrythat was keeping them all warm. But for some reason, all the digimon seemed slightly tense. They were constantly exchanging conspirative glances, and thre was some kind of strange, wary aura in the air.

"I think we should all get some sleep soon." Biyomon ventured, looking at Palmon. the other Digimon nodded. Something was definitely up, Kari realised, but hardly anybody seemed to notice. Sora stretched and yawned.

"Now that you mention it, Biyo, I do feel a little sleepy." Shinri groaned. 

"Sora, don't do that. You're making me feel exhausted, and all I've been doing is sitting by a campfire!"

"Normally it would take a lot more physical activity to make you feel tired." Matt yawned. The day before, they had been practising marital arts together for hours, without feeling the slightest fatigue. Gatomon giggled, glancing at Tentomon.

"Well, we best get some sleep then." Tai remarked. "Can you keep watch?" he asked Agumon. The reptilian creature nodded. 

"The rest of us Digimon will help." Patamon said. "We don't feel the least bit tired!"

TK nodded, then fell to the ground asleep. Matt laughed and picked him up, aided by Shinri, and the nine Digidestines headed for the cave where they slept.

"It's funny, you know," Izzy commented when he was sure they were out of earshot. "But it almost seemed as if they were trying to get rid of us!"

"You're imagining things. Why'd they wanna do that?" Tai commented. Kari looked at Shinri, who nodded.

"Tai, they were acting strange. Wonder what's up?"

"It can't be as important as getting some shut-eye!" Mimi grinned. But Kari was still not so sure. She told Sora this, but the older girl just shook her head.

"So sleepy! Kari, they're our friends. You're getting as paranoid as Joe!"

"Hey!" Joe yelled. "Am I honestly that bad?"

"Uh-huh." TK mumbled in his sleep. Tai smirked.

"Well, maybe I am being paranoid," Kari ventured. "but still..." 

Nobody heard her. She looked around to see that they had all fallen asleep, and sighed.

"Probably just nothing." She shrugged, and lay on the ground at the entrance to the cave. Slowly, she also began to dream.

*

When Tentomon came to check on the Digidestined, he found Kari lying there. Peering over her, he could tell that all the others were sound asleep. Perfect.

He flew back towards the main section of the clearing, where the other Digimon were waiting for him. They looked up enthusiastically, awaiting the news.

"Sleeping like Digi-eggs," He grinned. "Just hope they'll be okay. I don't like leaving Izzy after that fight with Dactylmon the other day..."

"They can take care of themselves." Agumon replied, nodding to himself. He had a lot of faith in Tai. They were best friends. Yet... he was unsure of the exact reason why, but he could feel some force drawing him. The others had felt it too. It was not unlike the feeling he had felt as Koromon, a little before he had met Tai. A strange sensation running through his veins, knowing that today -or, as the case was, tonight- would involve something vital to his destiny.

"It's this way," Gabumon had no idea what he was searching for, or how he knew where to go. But there was some kind of feeling that it was important. 

They wandered through the forest, among the dark trees, until they came to what Matt always called, 'The Forest Of Irrelevant Roadsigns'. 

"We're near the lake," Palmon said. Then she froze. The others stopped, all listening to a faint sound in the breeze. It sounded like someone humming to themselves, a tune that none of them recognised. Carefully and quietly, they travelled in the direction of the song. But it soon cut out as abruptly as it started. They were obviously very close, and could hear whoever it was gasp in shock.

Cubomon crept through a gap between two trees, then turned to face the others. 

"I think we've found who we're looking for," she ventured, hesitantly. "but... it's no Digimon I've ever seen!"

They followed her through the gap, and found themselves face to face with the strangest creature they had ever seen. It looked to Patamon like some deformed cross between a human and some species of Digimon.

"Be quiet," he -the voice sounded male- whispered. The figure ran a black gloved hand over it's fur-covered head spikes. He was wearing sneakers, and had beautiful wide green eyes, watching the island at the centre of the lake. Biyomon perched on a branch above his head, and followed his gaze.

At the dead centre of the small landmass, stood a group of figures. One was human, the others Digimon. Cubomon tapped Gabumon with her left paw.

"Definitely the new wave Digimon," she murmured. "I recognise many of them."

The figures on the island were all focusing on a strange green fire at the centre. They were circled around it, and seemed to be passing a spherical object around. When it finally reached the human, he thrust it into the air, and the Digimon around the flames all let out an almighty roar.

"What's going on?" Patamon asked the stranger who sat among them. The stranger shook his head.

"I'm not exactly sure. An old friend of mine, Amy, would know. She goes nuts for all this magic stuff." He murmured. They all turned back, to see bizzare smoky shapes filling the sky above the flames, twisting and turning in rainbow colours, formin familiar shapes.

"This is too wierd," Gomamon whispered. The stranger stood up, taking on a fighting stance.

"I think I have an idea what these are. Amy nearly unleashed a bunch on my homeworld, the ditz! They're evil spirits, and they'll probably see us here."

"Evil spirits?"

"Uh-huh. And they won't be all too impressed if we go and break up their party!"

He backed away, and the others followed suit. But already it was too late. An orange cloud, that seemed to have taken on the shape of an enormous monkey, swooped down at them. It was followed by a pair of black, almost humanoid figures, and they surrounded the Digimon and their new companion.

"Greetings. It is a refreshing change to be back on the mortal plane," One of the dark figures snarled. Biyomon fell off her branch, almost landing on a shocked Gatomon.

"Y... you're Lord Myotismon!" The feline gasped. There was a laugh from the three demons.

"Nice to see you still have the respect to call me 'Lord'." Gatomon moved closer to her friends, and they instinctively stood between her and Myotismon. The wierd stranger turned to look at the orange ghost.

"Hey, monkey thing? What's going on?" The three spectres laughed again, as if he was some kind of joke.

"Nothing you would understand, boy. We have been watching this world... and watching you with much interest. Don't think that anything you do can surprise us!" Devimon laughed at the comparitively small figure, who clenched a fist, resting his other hand on Agumon's head.

"Then you know exactly why I came here. I came here, because sourcerors on my home world saw the potential I could have on this planet. We can beat you."

Etemon looked mad, and reached forward to grab him, but he luckily ducked out of the way. As he leant close to Palmon, he winked.

"Attack now!" 

Palmon attacked with a powerful Poison Ivy, which went right through Etemon. She gasped and looked up at her new comrade.

"I can't hurt him!"

"Exactly! He's just a ghost, and he has no body to fight with!" He grinned down at her, then turned back to the baneful trio. "You can't harm us!"

The three looked from one to the other, then back down at him.

"We'll have to leave you, then. But when we have physical form..." Myotismon screamed. "We will destroy you!" With that, the phantoms disappeared, as the Digimon looked on in amazement.

"That was fantastic!" Cubomon gasped, for once impressed by something other than her own power. The stranger blushed slightly. 

"Thanks. But we have to run! Can you take me back to your home?"

The digimon all looked at each other. They weren't actually supposed to let any creature near their home like this, were they? He had protected them, but...

"C'mon," Cubomon grinned. "You saved our lives tonight, I think we owe you something!"

*

Matt woke very early the next morning. As he looked around the dark little cave, he could see the other digidestines, but not the Digimon. He guessed they were still outside keeping guard. 

He tried to sit up, then realised he couldn't. For a moment he lay fearfully, as if paralyzed. Why the hell couldn't he move. Then he remembered, and looked to see Shinri lying with her head on his chest. They'd been talking last night before she'd fallen asleep, and she must have stayed there all night. Carefully, he lifted her up, and she awoke with a start.

"Huh? What?" She looked around frantically, then caught his eye. "Please, don't wake me up like that!" 

"I'm sorry," She smiled slightly, then realised that she was still leaning on him for support. Blushing, she sat up and gazed outside.

"Can you hear voices?" She asked, finally. He listened, then nodded.

"It sounded like the Digimon. But..."

"You can hear it to? I don't recognise that voice." She pulled her penknife from her backpack pocket. "I'm gonna check this out."

"Shall I come with you?" He reached out to her, but she hit his hand away.

"Matt, just leave this to me! What, you think 'cause I'm a girl I can't take care of myself?!" 

"Well, sorry for caring!"

He stopped and looked away, shocked at her outburst. But she didn't apologise, and left by herself. Silently, he watched her leave and turned around to see Izzy looking at him. The younger boy shook his head and sighed.

"You're gonna have a problem there." 

"What do you mean?" Matt went crimson, and Izzy laughed.

"Well, it makes things hard for us all to work as a team, when she's not gonna speak to you for the next few weeks! I've spent a lot of time talking to her, and she's not the ditzy sort of girl who'll throw herself at you. She's stubborn, and she needs her space. You of all people should understand that!" 

Matt nodded. "I guess she's the first girl I've met in a long time who can take care of herself."

*

Matt was right. The sorry fact was, however, that Shinri tried a little too hard to take care of herself. And when she came to the clearing where the Digimon should have been, only to find a white, four-foot tall hedgehog... she reacted badly.

"What the hell have you done with my friends?!" The hedgehog almost jumped out of his fur in shock, and put his hands out defensively.

"I... I'm sorry! Do you mean the Digimon? They went to get breakfast." He ried to tell her. She nodded, slowly walking forward.

"If that's the case," she snarled. "Then would you mind telling me how you got here?" 

"Um... long story or short story?" He looked at her, his eyes a little worried, as if he wasn't used to humans. It was then that Shinri realised that he was obviously no threat.

"Either." She smiled. Faintly and warily, he smiled back, and began telling her his story.

It was the long version, but it basically told of how he had been born on a world called Mobius. There, he had been one of many fighting against an evil overlord, trying to win freedom for their planet. But all the time he was there, he had felt as if things were not quite as they should be, as if he didn't really belong. One day, it finally seemed as if they were winning. They had somehow managed to rescue the father of one of the younger freedom fighters, who had turned out to be a powerful sourceror. He could sense a great amount of potential in the boy, and had sent him to a world where his talents could be used. 

"I don't know yet exactly why I was sent here," He told Shinri, when he had finished his story. "But I know that it must be important."

"My friends and I, we were sent from another world too." She told him. He looked surprised, and she tried to explain.

"You know, I still don't know your name?" she asked. 

"It's Pewilly."

"That's a weird name! I'm Shinri Ashira." 

"And you thought my name was weird!" She laughed. The two continued their conversation, when the Digimon returned, bearing food they had hoarded from the forest. Palmon dropped her load of berries at her feet, and wiped her brow with a sigh.

"Well, you seem to be getting on okay," she smiled, then turned to Gabumon with a smug expression on her face. "See, told you he'd fit in!"

"Perhaps. But we had a slight problem with her trying to kill me!" Shinri blushed in embarassment, concealing her knife. Cubomon looked up at her with big shocked eyes.

"Shinri... you'd never do such a thing, would you?!" 

"It was a misunderstanding! I haven't been here long, I thought he could be an evil digimon or something!" Biyomon giggled, and dropped a bunch of strange, purple, banana-like fruits on Pewilly's lap. He eyed them curiously for a moment, then looked up at her as she hovered overhead.

"Um... exactly what are these?"

"And are you sure they're edible?" The human girl added, prodding them warily, and with a little distaste. "Where I come from, they were supposed to be yellow."

Cubomon laughed, looking a little disgusted. "Eugh! Yellow?! You really are from another world!" The two hugged, and Pewilly looked on with a slight pang of jealousy. He'd been told that when he entered this world he would have his own digimon too, and the relationship between the girl and the creature was so strong... he hadn't found his partner yet. All he had was a wierd pendant and some electronic device. How come he couldn't find his own Digimon comrade? So lost was he in his thoughts, that he didn't notice Shinri talking to him. 

"Hey! Hey, Pewilly?" She grabbed his arm, and waved her other hand in front of his face. "Hello? Anybody in there?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry." Again, he drifted off in his thoughts. Shinri shrugged, then turned to Gatomon. "Can you go get Kari and the others?" The cat Digimon nodded, and ran towards the cave where the others were asleep. Palmon glanced at the hedgehog, who was absentmindedly toying with his pendant. She instantly recognised it.

"That's a crest!" She exclaimed, leaping onto his lap and grabbing the necklace, almost strangling him. He choked slightly, then picked her up and sat her back on the ground. Shinri peered over curiously.

"Yup, that's a crest alright. Congratulations, you are now one of the Digidestines! Be prepared for putting your life in danger at least once a week, and running around talking to little monsters!"

Agumon looked thoughtful as this was said, and gave Pewilly a strange look. "You know, if you have a crest and digivice," he gestured towards the electronic device clipped to the furry creature's wristband. "You should have a Digimon."

"That's right! They help us to digivolve!" Patamon told him. Pewilly just looked very confused, and hid his face in his hands.

"But I don't have a digimon! And I don't know what Digivolve means!"

"It's when our digimon change to a higher level." Suggested a voice, which he did not recognise. looking around, he saw a boy of about fifteen years of age. He had scruffy brown hair, and was wearing goggles.

"I'm Tai. Who are you?" The boy asked. As he spoke, Gatomon re-entered the clearing, followed by seven more of the young humans.They introduced themselves,and all began talking at once. It was, in short, mild chaos. But this was more than usual for them.

Matt walked across and sat between Pewilly and Shinri. He nodded to the newcomer, then began to speak to Shinri.

"Look, I'm sorry if I offended you earli..." he began, looking at his hands nervously. But the girl stood up and walked towards Izzy and Joe, who were struggling to light the campfire. Yamato sighed.

"Your girlfriend?" Pewilly guessed. The boy went crimson.

"Who? Shinri?" he laughed unstably. "Oh, no!"

Pewilly nodded, not sure eactly how to continue the conversation, when a small brunette boy approached him. He did not look all too much younger than the others, but he was a lot shorter than Matt, Tai and Joe.

"Shinri told me that you were worried because you haven't yet found your own digimon?" He commented. The hedgehog nodded, and Izzy continued.

"Can I see your digivice? That thing on your wrist?" 

"Yeah, sure."

Pewilly watched as Izzy hooked it up to his computer, and adeptly typed in a few commands. A map was called up onto the screen, with a green flashin dot in the far east.

"Just as I thought! Your digivice has just given us the co-ordinates to find your digimon!"

"Prodigious!" Shinri laughed, glancing at the monitor. "But isn't that... hey, Cubomon?"

The vixen flounced towards them, waving her tail in the air as she moved. She jumped onto Shinri's lap, and leant over Izzy's computer screen.

"Isn't this where we ran into Inazumamon?" Izzy asked her, as she eyed the image suspiciously. She paused for a moment, then nodded. Tai bit his lip, raising his eyebrows at a worried Sora.

"That place is not safe! The dark energy totally drains our digimon!" She told Pewilly. He looked dejected.

"Guess that means we can't go look for my partner." he groaned. Gatomon looked up at him, noticing a tear forming in his eye. She nodded at Cubomon, who jumped down to the ground, and began to nuzzle the hedgehog's paw.

"We could probably go there," Gatomon smiled, taking his other paws between her own. "But we can't really go without Shinri and Kari. We may need to digivolve, you see."

Pewilly sniffed, and gazed at the pair through glazed eyes. "You'd do that for me?"

"Of course!"

"No way!" Izzy turned around, to see Tai frowning. "You can't let Kari go there with just Shinri! It wouldn't be safe!"

Shinri stood up, her arms folded over her chest as she glared defiantly. Cubomon leapt upon to her shoulders, and they both stared at the boy with great venom. If looks could kill, Tai would have been wishing that there was a hospital on Digiworld.

"You're beginning to sound a little too much like Matt-- and I don't like it!" Shinri snapped. He backed away, until he collided with a tree.

"Hey, I'm sorry! I just meant..."

"What is it with you guys anyway? Afraid when a girl can stand up for herself? Kari and I know how to cope!"

"Shinri..." Sora put a wary hand on the girl's shoulder, but it was shrugged away. The girl took a step forward, and Cubomon leapt off her shoulder in rage, sinking her claws into Tai's chest. He let out a yelp of pain, and fell to his knees. Shinri rushed to help him, apologising profusely.

"Tai! Oh, honey, I'm so sorry!" She helped him up as Sora handed her some bandages. "Look, Cubomon was over-reacting, it's my fault too! I'm sorry!" 

He nodded, and declined the offer of the bandages. It turned out that the skin had not been broken at all, but it still stung him quite a lot. He smiled weakly.

"I guess she's proved that you two can take care of yourselves! I'm just worried about Kari, I guess."

Matt looked up, spotting a small oppurtuity. "I'll go keep an eye on Kari for you." perhaps then he would have the chance to apologise to Shinri without her running away. Tai nodded, but then Pewilly stood up. 

"Perhaps I should go too? after all, they are looking for my digimon."

Izzy agreed. "You won't find it without the digivice." 

So it was agreed. Taichi tried to explain that although he was completely sure that Cubomon and Shinri would cope, he was afraid that Kari would be overlooked if they ran into danger. With Matt, Gabumon, and Pewilly to accompany them, they were sure to be okay.

"If you get into any danger, you must come straight back! We don't want to lose anybody." Joe said, worrying as always. Tai and Shinri exchanged glances.

"Would it matter if we lost Matt?" Tai grinned. TK looked a little upset, and Matt frowned at Tai as if he would throttle him. "Okay, man, I'm joking!" 

"I'm afraid." Kari whispered to TK, as the others began planning the journey. He nodded, and they both fell into silence, listening to the conversation. Kari did not think that anybody else had heard her. She was wrong. Pewilly had heard, and he had decided that he was going to make sure that she was okay. Whatever it took.

*

A few hours later, after noon, the seven travelers set off in search for the elusive digimon. They exchanged their goodbyes, and Shinri and Izzy made a last check on the communications system that he had programmed for their digivices.

"If you get into even the slightest danger, you must contact me immediately!" He urged her. She nodded, and hugged him.

"We'll be okay, Izzy. No worries!" She laughed. Pewilly called her name, and she approached him and the assembled group.

"Take care of Kari!" Tai called after them as they left. Matt sniggered, and Kari began walking backwards as she waved to TK and her brother. Finally, the other digidestined became nothing more than pale shapes on the horizon, barely visible through the trees.

They walked onwards in silence. Pewilly could feel the excitement running through his veins as he contemplated what his digimon may be, and Shinri was listening to her portable CD player. Her transference to the Digital World had at first rendered it completely useless, but Izzy had managed to fix it for her. The two had become very good friends, and he was pleased to have somebody around who could listen to him babbling on about computers. 

As they ventured deeper through the trees, Kari gazed up towards the sky. Between the leaves, she could just see the rosy hue that signified sunset. She tugged at Shinri's arm, and gestured to the sky.

"It's getting late," she told the other girl. Shinri nodded, and turned to Pewilly and Matt.

"We should really stop soon. We don't seem to be getting any closer, and I'm sure we've been going around in circles!"

It seemed she was right, Gabumon noted. The tree stump that he was sitting on had been passed at least four times, yet they were still following the tracking device on Pewilly's digivice.

"Well, I don't think a digivice can lie," Kari commented. "So the digimon must be somewhere..."

She paused in mid-sentence, gazing at a point behind Matt's left shoulder. He spun around, and gasped.

"It's... a mansion?" Pewilly finally spoke, breaking the silence. They cautiously wandered towards it, Cubomon at the lead. Matt shuddered, realising that there was something familiar about the extravagant building. It reminded him of something from his first stay in Digiworld...

"I don't trust this. Last time I went in a place like this, it only existed in my imagination. Devimon created it and tried to kill us all!" Gabumon laughed and shook his head.

"There is no need to worry, Matt! After all, Devimon has been dead for the past four years."

Pewilly bit his lip, but decided not to comment. After all, Gabumon had been there the previous night, and he wasn't bothered. Perhaps there really was no way for the demonic spirits to harm them now.

Beside him, Kari shivered. "It's too cold to stay out here," she ventured, hopefully. Gatomon snuggled close to her, and Shinri looked at Matt with pleading eyes.

"C'mon, Matt! We'll becomle icicles if we stay out here and we'd be safer from whatever may be roaming outside?"

Matt still looked a little wary, but the descision had more or less been made for him. He sighed, and knocked on the solid oak door. No answer. Pewilly carefully pushed it open, calling out into the dark hallway.

"Looks like nobody's home." Gatomon commented. the hedgehog put one foot inside the door, waited for a second, then entered. Almost immediately, there was a loud bleeping noise. he leapt into the air, and fell to the floor panting.

"It's the digivice!" shinri snatched it from him, and looked at the little black screen. The tiny red light was flashing even more frantically, and it emitted a high-pitched tone before falling completely silent once again. Pewilly dusted himself down, and looked around his surroundings. They were in a dark hallway, with a staircase on either side and another door at the end of a narrow corridor. The building seemed to only be lit by weak, drippy candles, adding more of an eerie effect. Cubomon strode towards the door, and opened it by standing on her hind legs and using her front paws.

"This evasive digimon must be somewhere in this building!" she grinned. "Which gives us the perfect oppourtunity to explore!"

Kari and Shinri began scaling the lefthand staircase. The digimon followed Cubomon, and the two boys went up the righthand stairs. Pewilly swung open a door, and entered another sark room. Despite the fact that there seemed to be no other sign of life, it was suprisingly well-kept. In the middle of the room, there was a large mahogany table, with tall candlesticks gracing the walls. But no digimon. He shut the door and continued.

"What type of digimon do you think it will be?" He asked Matt enthusiastically. His friend shrugged.

"Could be anything. But don't worry, whatever it is, I can guarantee you'll get on just great!" The next room had a painting on each of the four walls. Matt walked up to the

first one, and gasped. He turned to Pewilly, pointing towards the large canvas.

"Look at this picture!" Pewilly peered at it closely, then shrugged.

"This is a big old mansion, Matt! It's no suprise that whoever owned it had a painting done of their residence." He began to walk away, when Matt grabbed his arm.

"But look at this!"

At the bottom of the picture, stood a small crowd. At first Pewilly could see nothing special about them, but on closer inspection, he recognised himself opening the door, with Cubomon peering through. It was a painting with them in.

"Freaky." He raised an eyebrow. "But with all this world's prophecies about the digidestines and stuff, it could mean next to nothing!"

He traced along the wall with his finger until he reached the next picture. It was slightly smaller than the other, but the figures in the picture were recognisable. If he looked very closely, he could just make out a white hedgehog, clutching a miniscule, digimon whom he did not actually recognise. A cat-like digimon was sitting on his shoulder, and a little girl was also looking down at him. The scene was framed by a slender palm tree, arching it's wooden back over their heads. He called Matt, who had been staring enthralled at a blank canvas on the opposite side of the room.

"Matt! Look!" The human boy scrutinised Pewilly's picture for a second, then shook his head in mystification.

"There's nothing there, Pewilly. The canvas is completely blank."

Pewilly studied the image again, then looked across the room. "But... that one's blank to me?"

Matt glanced at it again, grinning. "No. There's definitely a picture there!"

"Can you describe it to me?"

"Er... no!" Matt turned away, and Pewilly shrugged.

"It looks like we can only see pictures that contain ourselves, right?"

"Uh-huh." Matt crossed the room to look at the fourth and final picture, but instead shook his head. "Can you see this?" The hedgehog shook his head.

"Wierd. We should ask the others later."

They left the room, and continued walking along the balcony above the hallway. There were no more doors on the left side of the upper-floor, so they instead went to the solitary door in the middle. Pewilly pushed it open, to find their friends seated around a dining table. Laid out was a spread of many different foods. Ice cream, Pizza, hot dogs, and many other dishes. Shinri was sitting on the arm of a huge, throne-like chair, munching on a candy bar. She waved to the two boys, then continued eating.

"Did you find my Digimon?" Pewilly asked. Kari paused and looked up from her bowl of ice cream, and shook her head. 

"We haven't seen anything, not even a digi-egg." Gabumon told them. Matt sighed, absent-mindedly taking a slice of pizza.

"It's too dark out to go looking for him now, Pewilly. we should really rest here for the night. Pewilly nodded, and slumped into a wicker chair beside Gatomon. 

"Are there any beds here?"

"Uh-huh," Shinri swallowed. "There's an entire dormitory upstairs, as well as a huge bathroom with a jacuzzi!" Her eyes widened in surprise. Matt suddenly felt a sensation of fear creep up his spine, but shrugged it off. devimon was dead; There was no possible way that Ryan and Inazumamon could create something like this. But how come he'd never heard of this mansion before? It didn't make any sense.

Kari jumped off her seat. "I'm gonna go in the jacuzzi!" She giggled, and ran off. Gatomon and Cubomon both looked at the food on the table, and exchanged winks.

"We're going to take care of this food, if you guys want to continue exploring?" The vixen smirked. Shinri ruffled Cubomon's pink head fur, and left.

"Where are you going?" Matt asked her as she opened the door.

"Downstairs. There's a whole bunch of arcade games in a room down there!" She replied. Matt got up and followed her, as she slid down the polished bannister. Pewilly turned to the digimon and rubbed his paws together.

"Well," he licked his lips, staring at the more than plentiful meal. "Looks like we've got some work to do!"

*

A few hours later...

"I really shouldn't have had that last slice of chocolate cake!" Pewilly clutched his stomach and moaned, begginning to realise his mistake. But it had been the best meal he'd eaten in ages! Kari sat on the windowsill and giggled, gazing outside.

"Whatcha looking at?" he groaned.

"The moon. It's so full and beautiful." She didn't divert her eyes for a second. Gatomon looked out and nodded.

"It sure is nice... I guess." She shuddered, and Kari hugged her.

"Reminds you of when you used to work for Myotismon? Don't worry, I'm here to protect you now."

"I know. Kari?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you protect me by never letting me eat that much ever again?"

Kari giggled, and the door opened. Shinri ran in, waving her arms in the air and jumping up and down maniacally.

"I won! Every time!"

"It was luck!" Matt followed her sheepishly, looking rather humiliated. Shinri sniggered.

"It was so not luck! You just can't handle it 'cause you got beaten by a girl!"

Matt muttered something under his breath that Pewilly could not quite hear, and Shinri punched him in the arm playfully. She then noticed Cubomon sprawled on the mattress and staring up through vacant yellow eyes. 

"Oh, Cubo!" She lifted the little fox cub up, then turned to Pewilly. "What were you guys doing?"

"They ate everything!" Kari offered, smiling awefully. Shinri rolled her eyes, then put a hand to Cubomon's brow.

"I think she's got a fever too! Pewilly, couldn't you have stopped her?" The hedgehog wailed, his cheeks turning the same green shade as his eyes. Kari offered her own rough translation.

"He couldn't restrain himself, let alone them!" She hopped off of the windowsill, and opened a wardrobe beside her, pulling out a few robes. Throwing one each to to Shinri and Matt, she took out a beautiful lavender one, with a pale pink trim for herself. 

"Matt, Gabumon, Pewilly..." she began. "I'm not getting changed with you guys in here!"

"I don't think I can get up!" Pewilly sighed. Shinri threw the robe over her, and took her clothes off whilst wearing it.

"Takes practise, Kari-honey. If you're that worried, the bathroom's just next door." Kari left the room, and Shinri approached Pewilly, placing the back of her hand on his chest. She paused in concentration for a moment, then nodded.

"You don't have a fever. You'll be okay in the morning." She told him, going back to Cubomon whom she cradled in her arms. Matt sat on the foot of Pewilly's bed and grinned.

"Kinda dumb to eat so much, isn't it?"

"Kinda dumb to get thrashed by a girl!" Pewilly replied. Shinri chuckled, but was almost immediately cut short by a firey glare from Matt. He turned back to Pewilly, and opened his mouth to say something when a pillow hit him on the back of the head.

"Score!" Gatomon and Shinri slapped a high-five in the air.

"Watch the hair!" Matt threw the pillow back, and grabbed another one whilst Shinri caught it. He leapt onto the bed where she sat with Gatomon, and tried to hit her but she blocked it with another pillow. He ducked a blow from Gatomon, yelling across to his own digimon.

"Gabumon, I could do with some help!" He yelled. The dog-like creature just chuckled, then jumped across with a third pillow. When Kari returned, even Pewilly was jumping around with them, and there were feathers flying everywhere. She took one look at the five, and collapsed with laughter. It wasn't until then, for some reason, that Shinri noticed Cubomon.

She got up, pushed Matt away, and picked up the sad creature who lay pitifully at her feet. The others slowly backed away as she tucked Cubomon into the shees, her eyes full of worry.

"No more pillow fights tonight." She whispered. Matt nodded and climbed into bed, and the others followed suit one-by-one.

*

It was about midnight, Kari considered. The moon's light filtered between the curtains, and the only sound seemed to be the occasional noise of somebody turning in their sleep. But a minute ago she was sure she had heard... She had no idea what it was.

Carefully, she pulled back the covers of her bed. Everybody else was asleep, so she silently pulled the door open. Outside on the balcony, it was pitch dark, and even the candles had been somehow extinguished. Which made her wonder, who had set them aflame in the first place? The entire building had seemed deserted... 

She was interuppted mid-thought by a large crash from downstairs. With a wary curiosity, she peered over the balcony.. There was something there, some kind of digmon.

"Pewilly's digimon!" She rushed down the stairs, not bothering to wake the others. The digivice hadn't been lying! She ran to the center of the hallway to face the creature, and it looked at her quizically. "Er... hi. I'm Kari."

It moved a touch closer to her, and she began to wonder if it was as friendly as she had originally thought. 

"Kari!" The scream came from overhead, and the creature recoiled slightly. Shinri gazed down for a second, trying to figure out what would be the wisest move to make. After a second's deliberation, she realised there was none, and leapt over the balcony. She stood in front of Kari, pulling her knife from her robe pocket and assuming a fighting stance.

"Who the hell are you?" She yelled. The creature turned it's head towards her, to reveal crystal eyesof no threat at all. 

"It doesn't look scary." Kari remarked. Shinri shook her head.

"That's the type you normally have to watch out for, honey. Never trust anything that looks innocent."

"I am innocent!" The creature's calm voice shocked Shinri, and she had to struggle to retain her poise. She knew that if she dropped her guard for even a second, it could have disasterous consequenses. The digimon continued.

"I am your friend,"

Shinri looked back up at the balcony, and nodded. Kari watched as a few familiar faces showed themselves, and winked at her. "I wouldn't try to fight without backup to take care of you!" Shinri whispered.

The creature reached forward with pink, slimy paws, resting the limbs on Kari's shoulders. She backed away slightly, but it had her completely in it's grasp. she began to feel a little light-headed...

"My name is Neo-Devimon."

"Oh, hell!" Three male voices chorused. Gabumon, Matt, and Pewilly suddenly realised the intense danger that the girls were in. Gatomon, who was beside them, shuddered.

"He was Lord Myotismon's predescessor, wasn't he?" She asked. But there was no time for an answer. Pewilly ran down and pulled Kari out of the creature's grasp, but it seemed too late. She was fully unconscious, but when he checked, he could still feel her pulse. Gatomon leapt onto his shoulder, nuzzling at her partner.

The digimon had now turned it's attention towards Shinri, edging closer and closer. She seemed to freeze for a second, then threw the knife randomly. By some luck, it hit the creature right in the eye, and it threw up it's head and screeched in pain. The sound was horrific, and as she retrieved her dagger, she covered her ears to avoid hearing the soul-shattering roar. 

Gabumon watched on in amazement at what happened next. As Shinri freed her dagger, she stumbled backwards. Matt caught her, and the creature's eyeball seemed to explode.

Black gas filled the room, beggining to take on some form. It swirled into many shapes, before settling on a bat-like humanoid. Gabumon hugged Matt's leg and closed his eyes in fear, as it streamed around them. The creature itself lay on the ground, a near-empty cavity where it's eye had been, coated with a slimy jelly. It's carcass had been cast aside by the fiend that had posessed it, no longer of any use.

The gaseous figure strode towards Pewilly, who courageously stood his ground. He knew there was no way he could escape carrying Kari, and he'd promised Taichi that he would take care of her. As it wrapped it's wings around him, he braced himself for the intense pain that was bound to follow.

Shinri looked up, dazed, and weakly reached out for him. But the creature had now completely concealed him. It stood for a few moments, then there was a blinding flash.

Matt screamed at the top of his lungs. Pewilly, Hikari, and Gatomon had disappeared completely, and the creature was still standing there. He felt frozen, too afraid to move.

"Cubomon!"

"Huh?" he looked down at Shinri, only just realising how silent things had been. She wrenched herself from his arms, grabbed his hand and pulled him up the stairs. Gabumon sprinted after them, and although none turned around, they could all sense the demon Neo-Devimon gaining on them continuously. 

Shinri threw open the door to the bedroom, and dashed towards the bed where Cubomon lay. Hurriedly, she took the vixen from underneath the covers and embraced her.

"Shinri, what are you doing?"

"I'm not leaving her here all alone?!"

The evil digimon ghost had now cornered them, entirely trapped them. Matt began to back further towards the wall, but Shinri stopped him.

"Matt, it's a cliché! In the movies they always back into the corner like cowards. I don't want to die like a B-list movie star!" She told him. The phantom wrapped wings around them, and Cubomon shivered in her arms. Matt looked around him. Gabumon was nuzzling his leg fearfully, and Shinri was staring at the creature with contempt. Somehow he never imagined he'd die like this, so confused and unsure. The bright light flashed once more.

And they were gone.

*

Izzy had hooked his computer up to his digivice for the fifteenth time that morning. he typed in the commands, and the same error message came up. However hard he tried, he could not contact her.

He looked up at Tai and TK, who were watching the screen, and loosened his collar with a sigh. They shook their heads morosely, and he tried to reassure them once again.

"There could be a flaw in my programming..."

TK groaned. "There won't be, Izzy." He sighed, looking at the computer screen morosely. "If your digivice can't trace her, then something must be wrong. And I don't think Matt and the others would have let anything happen to her."

Tai went pale. "Are you saying that they're all lost?" Izzy just shook his head, and adjusted his microphone, yelling as loud as he could.

"Shinri! Pewilly! Are you guys out there?" There was no response, and his voice dropped to a whisper. "Please be okay."

*

Kari groaned as she felt the heat of the desert on her skin.When she really thought about it, she was the lucky one of the three, having no fur. But she still felt as if she was walking on the inside of an oven, frying her feet and melting the soles of her sneakers. 

"We're not getting anywhere!" Gatomon exclaimed, waving her tail to fan herself. "All I can see is sand, sun and the occasional cactus!" Pewilly picked the little cat up, and sat her on his shoulder.

"I hope that if we do find my digimon, he has some ice cream or something with him." Kari punched him lightly in the arm.

"Just don't mention ice cream, please!" They plodded on, with no destination in mind. The horizon seemed so far away, and there was no sign of any variation in their surroundings. Finally, Pewilly flopped onto the ground, panting for breath.

"I... am going... to fry!" He screamed, pulling off his gloves and sneakers. "I hate the desert, I hate the heat and most of all, I wish I'd... huh?"

The two girls followed his gaze, to see a black backack lying on the ground a little way ahead of them. Cautiously, Gatomon moved towards it. Opening it, she jumped back in surprise.

"It's Shinri's! But... she wouldn't leave it behind would she?" Kari walked forward, and picked it up. It was suprisingly heavy, and rather bulky.

"It doesn't look like ther's been a fight around here or anything," she ventured. "But I know she wouldn't just leave it!" She rummaged through it's contents, then turned around and shrugged.

"There can't have been a fight. Her knife isn't in there, which means she had it with her, and anything that attacked her could have shed a lot of blood an' stuff!" Kari grinned.

Pewilly crawled towards her, throwing the bag over his shoulders. "Unless she didn't have a chance." 

The three stood still, shuddering slightly. If that was the case, and something had managed to attack their friends without recieving any damage, it had to be very powerful. Gatomon's eyes darted around, searching for any other creature. Suddenly, she yelped, and leapt into a fighting stance. 

"You!" She screeched. "Did you hurt our friends?" The digimon looked at her in shock for amoment, then spread out it's wings and bared it's fangs. It was more than ready to attack.

*

Elsewhere, however, Matt was perfectly fine. Perfectly fine, that was, but for the fact that he was beginning to relate to the feelings of an ice cube. Gabumon wrapped his arms around the boy.

"I'm so glad I finally found you! We need your help!"

"Huh?" Matt rubbed his eyes, realising that he had no memories at all of the last few hours. Last thing he could remember, he had been in a creepy old house with Gabumon, Cubomon and Shinri, waiting to be killed by some destructive digimon ghost. 

"Where are the others?" He asked hurriedly.

"In that cave. But..." Before Gabumon could finish his sentence, Matt had leapt out of the snow and ran towards the shelter, yelling out Shinri's name. Gabumon cringed and put his head in his paws. "But I don't think she would appreciate the visit right now."

Matt sprinted as fast as he could, skidding to a halt just inside the cavern. There was a weak fire in the centre of the room, providing slight warmth and light to the dank, cold cave. Cubomon lay on the floor beside the flame, asleep and wrapped amid a robethat was more than too large for her. Occasionally she would sniffle in her dreams, and kick the material away from her sick body.

"Shinri?" There was no sign of the human girl, so he trudged through the frost on the ground into a deeper part of the little tunnel. Finally he found her, hugging her knees and shivering in the icy cold. Matt suddenly noticed an important fact, and flushed bright red. 

"I... I'm so sorry!" She looked up at him and almost jumped out of her skin in surprise.

"No, Matt! Sorry, I just..." she cringed, looking down at herself. "...feel very embarrassed!" 

Because she had been so worried about the little vixen, Shinri had taken off her robe to warm Cubomon. Luckily, because she had been living near the beach before she had entered the digital world, she was wearing a denim bikini underneath, but it had still been a shock for the both of them. Matt peeled off his sweater and handed it to her, inspecting his shoes to hide his blushing.

"I think you need this more than me." He told her.

"But you'll freeze!"

"And you won't?" They both giggled, and Shinri pulled the fleece jumper over her head. 

"You know, you're as bad as my mom! 'Put a sweater on, you can't go out dressed like that'!" She mimicked, following him into the main area of the cave. As they reached the enterance, he turned to face her.

"Perhaps she just cares about you, too." Shinri looked confused, and opened her mouth to ask him something. But before she had the chance, Gabumon interuppted her.

"Do we have contact with Izzy and the others?"

"I haven't checked." She reached to her shoulder, then slapped her hand against her forehead in exasparation. She'd left the digivice on her backpack!

"So, we're stuck. Wherever we are." Matt sighed. She nodded, her eyes full of panic.

"Yamato, Cubomon is sick! We're going to freeze, or starve!" She exclaimed. He hugged her comfortingly, and for a moment she was calm again. But then she pushed him away.

"We're not helping! We have to find something to save Cubomon!" Gabumon pulled at Matt's sleeve.

"Remember when I caught cold and Frigimon got that herb to cure me? Perhaps you could find something similar for Cubomon?"

Matt nodded, grabbing Shinri's hand. "We'll have to be quick. Gabumon, can you keep an eye on Cubomon?"

"Can do, friend!"

Matt nodded, and began to run, pulling Shinri along after him. As fast as he tried to move, the snow seemed to grab onto his legs, stopping him from making much progress. eventually, he tripped over a fallen branch that had been half-obscured by the snow, and collapsed into a heap beside it. It was cold, too cold to run as the ice bit at his skin and numbed his hands. Shinri went to sit beside him, but the sleet gnawed at her bare legs and turned her skin a pale blue.

"We have to keep moving, Matt. If we stay still, we'll become popsicles!" 

"Maybe you wouldn't be so cold if you didn't give your clothes away to digimon with fur!"

"Well, sorry for caring!"

They both stopped, re-calling the last time that had been said. Back when Matt had wanted to go with her, to see if they really had been invaded by some evil intruder. It had, of course, only been Pewilly. But he had been worried. After all, wasn't that his right? 

"Guess we both care too much," he grinned, after a lenghty pause. She nodded silently.

"Are you going to speak to me?" He asked after a while. She turned back to face him, smiling.

"I guess I was a jerk yesterday. Sorry, Yama-chan." 

He wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "Apology accepted."

*

Pewilly's first instincts, when he saw the dragon-like creature, were to protect Kari. Tai had trusted him, and he was not one to let his friends down. He leapt in front of the girl, his arms in front of himself protectively, when Kari pushed him out of the way.

"Just leave this one to us, hedgehog-boy!"

She thrust her digivice into the air, and Gatomon turned to face them with a big grin on her face. As if on cue, they both shouted:

"Digivolve!"

A bright beam of rainbow light split the sky, focusing on Gatomon. There was a blinding flash, and a tall woman was standing in the place where the tiny feline had been.

"Angewoman!" Kari called, her expression one of rapture. The archangel took a large arrow, and positioned it to shoot the lizard. The reptile seemed miniscule now, it's leathery wings like thin paper towels. It took a few steps backwards, and was about to leap forward to attack...

...When both digimon stopped. The celestial woman looked down at Kari, then seemed to shrink. Once again, Gatomon was standing in front of them.

"Check your digivice, Pewilly." The cat ordered. He did so, and noticed that the light was flashing frantically. The lizard dropped it's guard, and scampered along the floor towards him. Balancing precariously on it's back claws, it looked the hedgehog in the eye, and grinned toothily.

"Pewilly? My Pewilly!" It leapt into the air and hovered in front of him for a moment, then swooped down and wrapped itself around his neck.

"I'm so glad I found you! I've been waiting here for so long!"

"Didn't the heat affect you?" Kari asked, as Pewilly was obviously too dumb-founded to speak.

"No! I'm cold-blooded! My name is Epsmon. Don't underestimate me, 'cause I'm real strong and can carry all kinds of heavy stuff!"

"500 lbs, exactly." Gatomon pointed out.

"You know this guy?"

"Uh-huh. We grew up together, but I didn't recognise him 'til I saw him get mad." She explained. Epsmon agreed, and looked back to Pewilly. 

"What's more... I'm your Digimon!"

Pewilly dropped Epsmon for a second, studying him carefully. "You are?"

"Yup! And I suppose you'll want me to take you home to your friends, 'cause confidentially," he lowered his voice. "There are some real nasty Digimon around here!"

Kari gulped. "There are?"

"Yup! In fact, there's one of them now!"

*

Shinri pulled away from Matt's embrace, just as he began trying to whisper something to her. Jumping up and down, she pointed between the trees ecstatically.

"Look, Yamato! It's what we came looking for!" 

Immediately forgetting the cold, she ran between the branches. The slushy ice reached her ankles, but she did not seem to notice at all as she ran towards the little lake. It was completely iced over, but in the middle there was a small island, covered in plants and bushes.

"Okay, which one is it?" She asked when he had caught up. Fighting for breath, he gestured towards a small bush on the left.

"It's that. But there's now way you'll reach ireach it, and we can't cross the ice!" She grinned cheekily, her childish eyes dancing with mischief.

"Can't we?" She tested the ice with one foot. "Seems stable enough to me!"

"Shinri!" 

His calls did not stop her, and she began to vigilantly tiptoe across the crystallised water. With every slight crackling noise the ice made as she walked across, Matt cringed. Finally, she stopped at the other shore, plucking a few blades of the herb and holding them aloft victoriously.

"Told you I could do it!" She called, and went to run back across. But the ice was already weak from her first journey, and broke easily. She screamed, and fell under the surface.

"Shinri!" He reached out for her hand, still gripping the edge of the thin ice crystal with her fingertips. Grabbing her fingers, then her wrists, he somehow managed to pull her back to the safe land. She lay there, his sweater soaking and stuck to her skin, spluttering and gasping for breath. Slowly unfolding her hand, she revealed the healing plant.

"You idiot!" He exclaimed, squeezing her close to his chest. She choked, and he released her.

"Your shirt's soaked now!" She told him, giggling. He looked down and laughed.

"Well, look at you!"

"I was wearing a bikini. May as well go swimming!" He rolled his eyes, picking her up.

"Right, now I'm gonna carry you back so you don't do anything else stupid."

She leant back in his arms. "Suits me. Saves me using my energy to walk, after all!"

After a short while, they were back at the shelter. Gabumon met them at the enterance, laughing as he saw them arrive.

"Have you two been enjoying a warm jacuzzi without us? Because I think it's unfair!" 

Shinri hopped down to the ground, and hugged him. "Who would wear a sweater in a jacuzzi, silly? How's Cubo doing?"

"She's great!" He took her hand in his paw, pointing inside the cave. "Just take that medicine to her, and see for yourself."

Shinri nodded, and disappeared inside. Once he was quite sure that she was entirely out of earshot, Gabumon looked up at Matt. Who was still grinning and beginning to go a little red with embarassment. The Digimon opened his mouth to ask something, then shook his head.

"Do you know something, Yamato?"

"What?"

"I'm not even going to bother asking. And if anybody askes me, I won't have to lie and say I don't know!" 

He followed Shinri into the cave, and Matt smiled, left alone with his thoughts.

*

Pewilly wasn't having such a good day. That said, he was having an absolutely fantastic day, if you were one of those people who counted being attacked by insanely evil monsters one of your top things to do. But he was not one of those people at all. Fearfully, he looked at Kari as the creature circled them overhead.

"How do you do that 'Digivolve' thing?" He asked her. She shrugged.

"It does it by itself, I guess. But there's never any harm in trying." He nodded, and thrust his digivice into the air.

"Digivolve!"

The bright flash of multi-colored night came and surrounded Epsmon. The reptilian digimon looked around in panic, turning to face Pewilly with fear in his eyes.

"Wha... am I digivolving?"

Pewilly looked to Kari for confirmation, and she nodded. Yes.

"It's working!" Pewilly cried out. "He's digivolving!"

He looked on at his digimon partner, and the bright light flashed. Standing in Epsmon's place was a beautiful, gold dragon. His wings were a rich, ruby red, and his eyes were like black coal. Fangs and claws of pure silver offset his magnificence, and as he threw back his head into the air and roared, Gatomon's own eyes widened in awe.

"Kari, am I that beautiful when I digivolve?"

Kari did not divert her gaze at all. "You sure are."

The dragon digimon prepared to battle, it's scales shining in the scorching sunlight. The creature up above swooped down like a bird of prey, attacking with it's long, leathery beak.

"It must be Inazumamon! Tai told me about him!" Kari yelled. "He's pure evil!"

Indeed, the fire in the creature's heart seemed to be pushing it to kill, to destroy them all. Pewilly clutched Kari's arm protectively as Inazumamon soared within a metre of their own heads. 

The dragon -Gatomon had informed them that his name was Basilimon- Flew up above them. Gathering all it's energy together to attack, a spectrum seemed to surround it... then it struck. It let out a searing ball of fire with one powerful breath, which hit Inazumamon in the head, right under his left eye. He seemed to lose his balance in the air momentarily, before letting out his own, potentially lethal attack.

"Dark Wound!" He jabbed forward with his beak, and a black mist shot out like a missile from a cannon. Basilimon swerved to dodge it, but the blow still managed to catch him on his wing. He fluttered in the air, weakened by the attack, and began to fall.

Pewilly ran towards the fallen beast, screaming. Basilimon stood up, and roared at the other digimon.

"I may no longer be airbourne- but you will not destroy me!" He leapt forward to attack once again, as Inazumamon attempted a forceful divebomb, aiming to slaughter Pewilly. The hedgehog stood, frozen with fear, as the killer drew ever closer.

"Celestial Arrow!" 

The small spear shot into Inazumamon, piercing a small hole in his own wing. He wailed, falling to the ground just as Basilimon gathered Pewilly in his wings to shift him from the impact. As he fell, the mighty digimon reversed back to his smaller form, Dactylmon. Kari stood over him threateningly.

"D...don't hurt me! You know that my master is powerful!" 

Angewoman put a firm hand on Kari's shoulder. "Just leave him. Pitiful thing!" She turned her back, and Kari followed suit. Dactylmon looked perplexed at the way they had spared him, then shrugged, and flew off.

"Why did you let him go? I could have finished him!" Basilimon complained. Angewoman just laughed.

"He's so weak. It didn't really seem fair!"

"I think it would've done!" Kari responded. Angewoman laughed, and reverse-digivolved to become Gatomon once again. Basilimon was about to become Epsmon, when Pewilly gestured for him not too.

"I know you could carry us easily when you're small, but it would be safer whilst you're still in your dragon-form!" He explained. Basilimon nodded, and kneeled as well as a dragon possibly could.

"Well, climb on! We better go look for your friends."

Pewilly shook his head. "No, partner. We better go look for *our* friends."

*

Shinri leant back and gazed up at the stars. She was cold. In fact, she felt like she could give a snowman lessons in being cold. But most of her body was too numb to care. The scar on her left arm stung like a million poisoned needles had been forced into her skin, but with Matt's help, she was coping.

He stood just inside the entrance to the cave watching her. Without turning around, she waved a hand in greeting.

"How's Cubo doing?"

"Just great. That plant really did have healing powers, I guess."

"Uh-huh."

He sat beside her, looking up at the sky. Slowly, he put an arm around her waist, and squeezed her tight. But no sooner had he done this, she pushed him away and jumped to her feet.

"Is that a dragon?!" She yelled. Matt stood up, straining his eyes to see the flying shape above them.

"Well, with this place's track record for the unusual, I'd say definitely." The creature was now flying closer and closer towards them. The trees blew backwards, and it soon landed right in front of them. Kari jumped from it's back, and ran up to hug Shinri.

"I'm guessing you found your Digimon?" Matt smirked as Pewilly offered a hand to help him up. The hedgehog nodded.

"This is Basilimon. He was Epsmon, but we had a run in with an evil digimon. Inazumamon."

Matt rolled his eyes. "Been there, done that! Inazumamon is the partner of Shinri's half-brother. Not a nice guy!"

Pewilly's eyes widened. "Your brother's evil, Shinri?"

"Call her chibi-chan; she hates that!" Yamato commented. Shinri punched him playfully.

"And you hate beng whipped at video games by agirl! C'mon, Cubo, Gabu!"

They all climbed onto Basilimon's back, and took off, leaving the icy land. As they soared through the night sky, young voices could be heard.

"You're never gonna forget that are you?"

"Not in your lifetime, honey!"

And laughter. Happy, carefree laughter.

*

I don't own Digimon: Sadly. I do own Shinri, Ryan, Cubomon in all her incarnations, and Inazumamon in all his. Also Pewilly owns himself and Epsmon. Basilimon is debatable.


End file.
